Proposed changes to reduce government inspections at feed mills and meat packers is not the potential disaster many critics say, said a spokesperson for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association.
“Visual inspection, which we all know now, isn’t scientifically worth a whole lot,” said Rob McNabb, general manager of operations with the cattle group. “You need to control things before they happen. That’s the better way of ensuring safety and quality assurance.”
Last week a leaked Canadian Food Inspection Agency document revealed plans to cut $75 million from the federal agency’s budget over three years. The proposed cuts would:
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- Hand more inspection to the feed mill and meat producing industry, with the CFIA assuming an oversight role.
- End payments to beef producers that provided an incentive to turn in cattle for BSE testing.
- Cut funding for bird flu preparedness.
The federal Treasury Board has already approved the cuts, but the federal government delayed announcing the changes over concerns of a public backlash.
A CFIA spokesperson clarified that the proposed changes are not budget cuts. The money saved will be reallocated to other agency programs.
“The CFIA is not in the cutting mode,” said Freeman Libby. “In the last number of years our number of inspectors has grown and will continue to grow.”
While he noted that the potential changes are only proposals, Libby said the CFIA is refocusing its priorities.
The agency is changing how it functions in accordance with the Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan, a comprehensive reform of food, health and safety regulations announced last year by prime minister Stephen Harper.
Regarding changes to the BSE incentives, Libby said the proposed change is not a cut in surveillance of the disease.
“The reimbursement is just a method we put in place in 2003 … to ensure that we get samples brought to us, in what we call the high risk areas – the dead, the dying, the downers and the diseased,” Libby said.
The incentive pays farmers $75 for handing over animals that might have BSE.
Although $75 may seem like a paltry figure, it can add up quickly, given the number of tests that CFIA does each year, Libby said.
For example, if the agency takes 60,000 animals per year for testing, the annual cost of the program would be $4.5 million.
McNabb said the program was initiated “at a time when cows were worth virtually zero.”
He said the program has been effective, but it might be time to move forward.
“The bounty, if you will, has achieved what it was set out to do. That is, to ensure that we had the appropriate level of surveillance underway and the right type of animals,” he said. “And now, recognizing that we’ve achieved the critical mass of surveillance, we’re now in a position … to be more focused on the type of surveillance done. And it doesn’t require a broad, bounty-driven system.”
He said the cattle producers’ group would like to see testing aimed at a narrow band of animals, those displaying the neurological signs of BSE.
Richard Holley, a food science professor at the University of Manitoba, isn’t aware of the details of the proposed reforms, but he’s not concerned with the concept of shifting more safety responsibility to feed mills and meat packers.
“The bottom line is that you can’t possibly inspect safety into food. This is a no-brainer,” he said. “The full responsibility for food safety should rest upon the food plant operators.”
Holley explained his comments by pointing to basic market economics.
“They’re in business to stay in business,” meaning a company will do whatever it takes to safeguard the reputation of its products.
Therefore, if the CFIA assumes an oversight role, it’s not going to compromise public health.
“The need for inspection is really only verification. And oversight is just a great idea and that’s what the CFIA should be doing,” Holley said.
